Chinese and Comparative Philosophy 中國哲學與比較哲學

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New Yi Jing Translation

Blomsbury Academic has published Geoffrey Redmond’s The I Ching (Book of Changes): A Critical Translation of the Ancient Text; see here.

Mr. Redmond explains his thinking behind the translation as follows:

“I decided to do this translation because recent advances in scholarship on early China have made the time ripe for a fresh approach to reconstructing the early meanings of the Zhouyi 周易. Most who begin with the Yijing易經 find it difficult going. I began translating with the assumption that a classic which was understandable 3,000 years ago can made understandable today. I was pleased to discover that removal of the Confucian overlay together with advances in Chinese historical linguistics have the happy result of making the Book of Changes much easier to understand. I have also made use of published editions of excavated manuscripts (Mawangdui and Shanghai Museum) as well as scholarship on the nature of oral transmission by Milman Parry, Walter Ong, Eric Havelock and others.

To aid the reader I have included the Chinese text, translated each character with consistent English words, provided concise explanations to clarify each of the 450 line texts, and compiled a guide to finding main themes in the work.

Over the course of its 3,000 year history, the Changes was read in many different ways, yet interpretation has usually been synchronic rather than historically contextualized. This is true of the iconic Wilhelm-Baynes version, though it must be given the credit for making the Changes a world classic. In contrast I have placed my version in the context of the Western Zhou, as currently understood.”